


Off Destiny's Map

by lowflyingfruit



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26422831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowflyingfruit/pseuds/lowflyingfruit
Summary: Crossroads of Destiny AU.Zuko makes a different choice in the caverns beneath Ba Sing Se. He just doesn't know what exactly it was that he's chosen or what it means for him. It evens out, because the Gaang also doesn't know what exactly it is that Zuko's chosen or what it means for them. Trusting maybe-former enemies is difficult. Finding Aang a firebending teacher and stopping the Fire Nation is necessary.Sozin's Comet won't wait for them to figure it out.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 176





	1. Burns

**Author's Note:**

> Avatar: The Last Airbender renaissance? Avatar: The Last Airbender renaissance!

Sokka saw the flame first. He was going to avoid it - random flames in the night never being a _good_ thing for them to approach - but then he heard Katara shout. “Appa! Sokka! Down here!”

“Definitely Katara,” Toph said.

That was all Sokka needed to know. With a “yip yip” and a warning to the Earth King to hold on tight they were descending, faster than Sokka had dared fly before. It didn’t matter. He didn't hear Aang. He couldn't see or feel any wind that meant airbending was happening. If they didn’t get Aang out -

He’d think about what happened if they didn’t get Aang out if he had to. Only then. Someone might have to. But only if the worst happened, and Sokka would rather die before he let the worst happen.

As they got closer, Sokka saw two shapes in the shadows, still lit by that dim flame. Two shapes, a little light, and a lot of water.“Sokka!” Katara shouted again, as Appa banked and circled.

Wasn’t the shape with the flame a bit too skinny to be that General Iroh guy? And where was Aang?

No choice. They were officially out of choices.

Appa moaned. Katara was holding a small, limp form. Without waiting for an invitation, the Angry Jerk (seriously, they were actually helping him? Probably still better than Princess Azula, though. _Maybe_ still better than Princess Azula) leaped aboard, and Katara actually _let_ Zuko touch Aang, hauling him up as quickly and gently as they could. Which meant he wasn’t dead, right? They wouldn’t be so careful if he was dead. "What's happening?" Toph asked. She had trouble keeping track of things while riding Appa, Sokka knew, even just the things and people on the saddle. Something about Appa's movement throwing her senses off. "Where's Aang?"

"Katara's got him, but he looks injured," Sokka said, but that was all he could tell her. He didn't know. Aang wasn't saying anything. He wasn't even moving.

As soon as Katara was on Appa’s back, Aang clutched to her, she said, “We have to get out of here."

“On it,” Sokka said. “We’ll go meet dad.” Not that he wanted to bring the Angry Jerk there, not at all, but they were still low on options. He trusted Appa to know the heading and turned in his seat. “What happened?”

“Azula,” Katara said, voice cracking. She was already taking the vial of spirit water off from around her neck. The water glowed around her hand as she lowered it to the worst burn Sokka had ever seen, black in some places, blistered in others, oozing stuff Sokka didn’t want to think about. Aang _still_ hadn't moved. There were tears in Katara’s eyes. There were tears in his own eyes. His sister lowered the glowing water to the awful burn.

Nothing happened for a second. Then Aang’s tattoos glowed once, gently, and he groaned. It was hard to tell when all the light they had was the moon, but Sokka thought the burn looked a little less…burn-like. Aang groaned again. Katara actually sobbed to hear it, but within fifteen seconds she’d straightened up. “I need more water,” she said.

Toph passed one of their waterskins over to her. She was quiet. Too quiet, and her eyes were wide. Katara unstopped the skin none-too-gently and started with the regular, less-glowy healing.

“That’s a lightning burn, isn’t it,” Sokka said. “Azula did that.”

“Yes,” Katara said, voice rough. “She brought the Dai Li with her.”

“She shot Uncle first,” the Angry Jerk - Zuko said. He didn’t sound angry, just that minute. Stunned. Numb. Same as Katara. Same as the expression on Toph's face. Same as Sokka. If for a different reason. “Or - me. She tried to kill me. Uncle stopped her.”

In a far smaller voice than she usually used, Toph asked, “Is your uncle okay?” She liked the old man, Sokka remembered. Spirits knew how they’d met. He’d have to get the full story off her. Later.

“I don’t know,” Zuko said. He bowed his head. He was in Earth Kingdom clothing, Sokka realised. Earth Kingdom clothing, and his hair had grown out. He wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating like that. If not for the scar, Sokka might not have recognised him as the person who’d rammed his ship into their village. “I don’t know. He said to leave him behind.”

They flew on through the night without speaking further. The only sound was the wind rushing past their ears and the low hum of Katara’s healing water. They didn’t have to say it to know. The Earth Kingdom had fallen. Ba Sing Se was now under the Fire Nation’s control. The Avatar was…injured.

It could all wait until they got back to the Water Tribesmen. Somewhere safe - safer than flying through the sky, anyway. Nowhere was really safe. Not anymore. If it ever had been.

You’d think they would have known better by now.

Dark thoughts, but Sokka knew that someone had to think them. Sokka snuck a glance back at Appa’s overloaded back. Katara was still working on Aang’s wounds, moonlight picking out early lines of stress around her mouth and eyes. Toph was sitting a bit closer than she usually would, still clutching the side of the saddle, but feet firmly planted near Katara and Aang for the best possible view she could get. The Earth King was clutching his bear. And Zuko - Zuko was just staring.

Probably shocked that he’d done something halfway worthwhile in his miserable life, Sokka thought bitterly. After all that time hunting Aang, served him right that he had to sit here for the consequences.

Or was he just shocked that his sister had tried to kill him? Because if he was, he shouldn’t be. What a happy family the Fire Lord’s must be. Did any of them even care about each other?

The clouds hid the moon as they flew further east. After a minute or so, a rusty voice said, “Do you need light?”

“Yes,” Katara replied. Her focused voice. Sokka knew the signs. His sister had one thing on her mind now and one thing only.

That was fine with him. “Keep it dim,” Sokka said, not looking back. If she needed light, she needed light. Healing Aang was worth the risk. Katara would look after the magic water stuff, Toph would kick the asses of anyone who tried to mess with them, and Sokka would do his best to think of the other things. Like who might spot them from the ground, and whether Appa would get too spooked. “We don’t want to be seen.”

No response, but the humming from the glowy water kept up. They flew on.

When Sokka next looked back, Toph, the Earth King, and the bear were all asleep. Katara was still awake and alert, like she always was on a full moon night, if more tired still than the last time Sokka had looked. Zuko was awake too, but haggard in the pale light of the weakest flame Sokka had ever seen a firebender produce. Weird to see him bent over Aang, helping Katara. He’d only chased them across the world. No big deal. Sokka could feel his own exhaustion clawing him down.

Nothing to do but keep flying. Officially out of choices.

—

If Katara hadn’t been so intent on her bending, she wouldn’t have noticed the sun rise. She was, so she felt the moon’s power recede that little bit it always did during the day. The full moon was still there, just hidden by the sun’s power.

Across from her, she heard Zuko draw in a deep breath. He hadn’t said anything since he’d offered her light.

Whatever the sun did for firebenders, she hoped it would help Aang too. Aang was a firebender, wasn’t he? Just like he was a waterbender. The full moon would help him. The sun would help him. He would get better. He would.

She wanted to cry again. Even though she was grown up and a master waterbender. She didn’t feel much like a grown-up or a master right now.

“We’re nearly there,” Sokka said. He’d been flying all night. He must be as tired as she was. “They won’t be expecting us. We should be careful.”

Zuko stirred slightly. “Where are we going?” he asked. If he was interested, you couldn’t tell from how he said it.

Sokka might hesitate, but Katara thought differently. Zuko could have sided with Azula, but instead he’d fought with them. She didn’t know how hard that must have been for him. She couldn’t imagine seriously fighting Sokka. As far as she was concerned, he’d proved himself in those caverns. “We’re meeting with the men of the Southern Water Tribe,” she said.

“Katara!”

“What? We’re almost there. Were we going to blindfold him the whole time? After he _helped Aang?_ ”

“That’s not the point -“

“There’s nobody I could tell,” Zuko said dully. “I’m a traitor. I betrayed the Fire Nation.”

Sokka snorted and said what Katara was thinking. “What’s there to be loyal to?”

“You don’t understand. My sister - my _father_ -“

He buried his head in his hands, so he missed Katara and Sokka sharing a look. So _what_ about the Fire Lord? He was trying to conquer the world! He didn’t deserve anyone’s loyalty. If their father behaved like that, the tribes would have made sure he wasn’t their chief.

It might not be the time to say any of that. Aang needed rest somewhere that wasn’t on Appa’s back. They _all_ needed to rest. And plan for whatever came next. They’d think of something. They had to. Sokka would, if nobody else. They couldn’t waste time fighting with Zuko over this, not if he’d made his choice and not if he was coming with them anyway. He’d figure it out, surely.

Momo curled up around her neck, leaning towards Aang but staying clear of her hands. At the end of her energy, Katara finally eased up on her healing. It wouldn’t do Aang any good if she collapsed as well. He’d need healing tomorrow, and the day after, and who knew how many days after that.

The sharp whistle of a penguin-seal echoed below them. They’d been seen.

Sokka brought them down in a stand of trees not far from the beach. Appa groaned and started tearing into the bushes. He’d be the most tired of them all, flying so far, so fast, with all those people on his back. Katara nudged Toph awake. “I need Aang lifted down, as gently as possible,” she said.

“Got it,” Toph said, blinking her own sleep away from her eyes. She jumped down and made a platform for them. She kept her arms out and the platform steady, better than any stretcher or carry could do. “Just tell me where you want him.”

As soon as they’d all climbed off Appa’s back, the sky bison slumped even further down. He lowed at Aang’s platform, which Toph floated over to him. “He’ll be all right,” Katara heard her say. “He has to be all right.”

Katara would make sure of it. No matter what. She started hauling down their supplies. She had to have _something_ in her pack -

There was rustling in the underbrush. That had to be some of the men. She and Sokka had sounded just like that when they were still getting used to how many _leaves_ there were in the Earth Kingdom. Even now they weren’t always the quietest. The fleet, as far as she knew, had kept to the water. She and Sokka would have travelled much furtther overland than they had. “Sokka!” a familiar voice called. “Is Katara -“

“Fine, dad,” Sokka said. “Here.”

She didn’t turn to look. She needed her willow bark. There was something else in here too that would help clean the wound, she knew it. Bandages as well.

“Katara,” her father said, voice pure relief.

“Aang’s hurt,” she said. “I need somewhere I can get his wounds cleaned and bandaged.”

He picked up on it. Thankfully. Now was not the time for heartfelt reunions, even though they hadn’t seen each other in years. “I’ll clear a tent and get a fire lit,” he said. “Whatever the Avatar needs that we can provide, he’ll have it.” Hestarted to lead them back to camp. Katara kept her eyes on Aang. Behind her, she could hear Sokka explaining things. Some of it she hadn’t known. Aang had a vision of her in danger? He’d come back from his training for her? If Aang was awake, she would have had _words_ with him about that. She wanted him to be the best he could be, and she could look after herself. As one of his teachers, and his friend, she wasn’t going to let him be any less because of her.

The sun was fully up by the time she got the tent and the fire her father promised her. Later still by the time she got the bandages cleaned to her satisfaction and wrapped securely around Aang’s open wound. Toph was outside standing guard. There was nothing more she could do for Aang right now. There was nothing more _anyone_ could do for Aang right now.

Why did that only make her feel worse?

—

_What am I doing? What have I done?_

Stupid. He knew what he’d done, at least. He’d fought against Azula. With the Avatar. She’d offered, and he’d listened, and he might have - but in the back of his mind someone kept saying _Azula always lies_. It sounded like his own voice. Azula always lies.

That was how she got him that last time, at the resort, when she’d _said_ Father wanted him back but instead she’d tried to take him prisoner. She’d attacked Uncle in the abandoned town. With lightning. She could have killed him.

Maybe she had by now. He didn’t know.

For the night’s work, Zuko had saved the Avatar, betrayed his nation, and he hadn’t even managed to help Uncle Iroh. He was having trouble imagining how else he could have failed.

He could feel hostile stares from every direction in this camp. Eyes like the icy tunnels beneath the North Pole. He lifted his chin out of habit more than pride, trying to show strength he didn’t have. They saw him as the enemy, just like the Earth Kingdom villagers did.

_Was_ he still their enemy? He was a traitor, after all. When he’d set out, he’d never thought about being anyone’s enemy. Not personally. He'd never meant for any of this to happen.

Zuko didn’t even know where he should go or what he should do. He had nothing but the clothes on his back. What was going to happen to Uncle’s tea shop? Neither of them were going to be there to open up in the morning. If anything was opening, with Azula and her Dai Li in control of Ba Sing Se. How had she got the Dai Li on her side?

He didn’t know what to do. The camp was full of Water Tribe. More than one of them had burn scars. They’d been fighting firebenders. The Fire Nation. His people.

…he’d go look after the sky bison. That was what he’d do. Looking after the bison, that wasn’t traitorous. That was just - it had its own honour, caring for a beast like that. Not that he’d know anything about honour, it seemed.

The Earth King (because of course the Avatar and his friends had managed to save the Earth King, nothing ever seemed to stop them completely) had grabbed a pile of bags from the bison’s saddle and brought them back to this camp. The waterbender girl, Katara?, had taken her own bags with her. That left three more. He searched and found what looked like a large brush in the second. From the size of it and the white hair trapped in its bristles, it _had_ to be a bison brush.

Backtrack. Focus on the step right in front of him. Uncle might have yelled at him for not thinking far enough ahead, but just at this moment what Zuko needed was to keep going. Brush the bison, make sure the bison was eating. If he did that, he’d done something.

The bison woke as Zuko approached. The deep rumbling it made didn’t sound hostile. Zuko made sure he was holding the brush in front of him, as unthreateningly as he could manage.

The bison stared at him. Zuko was being stared down by a bison. Oddly, it felt like that time months ago, when the Avatar had asked Zuko if he thought they could be friends.

That time, Zuko had rolled to his feet with fire in his fists, angry at the mere _suggestion_ that he might turn his back on the Fire Nation like that, but now his heart and stomach felt like cold ash. Burned out. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t anything. He was just going to make sure this bison was brushed and fed and safe. “It’s just a brush,” he said. Could it even understand him? “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The bison blinked. Then it shuffled around a little, presenting a solid shoulder to Zuko, and started munching on some underbrush.

That looked like permission.

It was…calming, in its way. Not at all like the slimy feel of washing dishes, or the splinters he got from trying to fix that roof. He hadn’t been allowed near animals much, back home. If Uncle had found them jobs tending animals instead of working in kitchens… The bison wasn’t like a fire, but it was still warm to the touch, the motions of brushing were soothing, and the work was useful. For a few minutes there was just the sun on his back and warm fur under his hands, and he maybe didn’t feel quite so awful.

“There you are,” a voice behind him said.

Zuko whirled, ready to call up fire, only to realise that it was the little blind earthbender. He could see her bare feet. He didn’t know her name. He lowered his hands. He still had the bison brush in one. He was also uncomfortably aware that since she was one of the Avatar’s companions, she was probably the furthest thing from helpless or vulnerable, and he wasn’t even trying to be a threat. “What do you want?”

“Checking up on you,” the girl said casually. “I’m Toph. You must be the angry jerk the others keep talking about.”

“My name’s Zuko,” he said.

“Yeah, they said that too,” the girl, Toph, said. “Anyway, you better not be stealing Appa. People tried that already. We _dealt_ with them.”

“I’m not stealing the bison!” Zuko protested. He brandished the brush, remembering a beat too late that she was blind. Though - she’d come out here by herself. She might be blind, but clearly she could sense _something_. Through her earthbending, maybe? Well enough to make her way through unfamiliar terrain without apparent difficulty. “I was just brushing him.”

As if it could understand, the bison - Appa? - made another low rumble in its chest. Then it licked Zuko from head to toe. He flinched away.

The girl snorted. “And they’re _scared_ of you,” she said.

What Katara had said in those caverns… _when I thought of the enemy._ “I’m not trying to scare anyone,” he snapped.

The bison licked him again. It might have been helping his case, but still. Bison saliva. “I can tell,” Toph said, snickering and already turning to leave. “Okay, so you’re not stealing Appa. Good to know. Just stay out of trouble and everything will be fine.”

She had a very distinctive walk. Zuko wasn’t sure how he missed her approach. Very deliberate, very precise, and firmly rooted in a way that made him think that she wasn’t just a run of the mill earthbender. Was she teaching the Avatar earthbending?

Skilled as she might be, what did she know about fine? As soon as he was sure she was out of earshot, he tried to summon up a flame like he had when she’d surprised him. A proper flame. But try as he might, all the flame he could manage was a pale and sickly yellow that couldn’t so much as warm a teapot or chase away a shadow.

This had to be some sort of punishment from the spirits. He’d lost his firebending.


	2. Interventions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sitting around camp waiting for the Avatar to get better is fun for no one.

After he sent Toph to check on the potentially traitorous (actually traitorous? Was that a good thing?) firebender in their midst, Sokka slipped into the tent his father had set up for Katara to treat Aang. It seemed only fair. Toph had been pulling guard duty. Sokka wasn’t half the fighter Toph was, but he could still take over from her for a bit.

To his surprise, Katara was still awake, sitting upright on a bedroll next to Aang. She looked even worse, but she was awake. “You should get some sleep,” he said.

“You’re one to talk,” she replied. She looked down at Aang. Aang was out cold, but not in a healthy-looking way. Normally, when Aang slept, he looked peaceful. Or even if he was having a nightmare, he still looked alive. Right now he looked more like someone had just draped him out over the floor. Which was close to what had happened. “I tried. I couldn’t.”

“You -“ he bit back the words _have to_. Katara was the only healer they had. Aang was the only Avatar they had. She knew it as well as he did. It wouldn’t help. It _wouldn’t help_.

So instead Sokka finished, “- should at least eat something then.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sokka said. “I’ll get you something.”

He spun on his heel and left. It wasn’t easy, seeing Aang like that, and Katara had to be feeling it worse. The least he could do was get her some food. The _only_ thing he might be able to do right now was get her some food. Who knew, maybe their dad had some dried sea prunes left. Or at least fish smoked the Southern Water Tribe way.

His dad was waiting outside. “How is she?” he asked.

“Not good,” Sokka had to admit. “She hasn’t slept or eaten anything. You got any food lying around?”

“Always rice on the fire,” Hakoda said, “I might have some other things.”

‘Some other things’ turned out to be dried sea prunes after all. The last two dried sea prunes in camp. He couldn’t think of a better time for them to be eaten. Sokka took them and a bowl of rice and struggled to hang on to a cup of tea as well. “You could help me here,” Sokka said to his father.

Hakoda looked at the tent where they’d installed Aang. “I’m not sure Katara wants me there right now,” he said slowly. “While she’s the one keeping the Avatar alive, I’d rather not upset her, or distract her. We’ll talk later.”

It made sense, kind of, even if Sokka didn’t entirely agree. It had been years. Just as long for Katara as him. She’d missed their dad just as much. “No problems,” he said. He tried to shrug and reconsidered as he nearly spilled the tea and a precious, precious sea prune. “Later, I guess.”

“Find me when you’re done,” Hakoda said. “We’ll need to make plans.”

The Avatar. The Day of Black Sun. The Earth King. Zuko. So much planning. “If I can get Katara to sleep, we’ll talk when she wakes up. If not, I won’t be that long.”

His father smiled at him. He didn’t clasp his forearm, because that really _would_ have spilled the tea. Sokka had missed this. Just these ordinary conversations. It really sucked that he only got them now as the world was falling apart all over again.

First, though, he had a friend to check up on and a sister to feed. Before she fell on her face just like their friend. Usually she was the one doing this or something like this for him. Not that he minded. He’d mend his own clothes if it meant Katara could help Aang wake up healthy a minute sooner.

Katara looked up again when he slid the bowl in front of her. “You found sea prunes?” she asked.

“Dad’s last, so you better eat them,” he said, sitting down next to her. “You can’t look after Aang if you don’t look after yourself.”

“You sound like Master Yugoda,” Katara said, but she picked up the bowl and started to eat. So that was something. Half mission accomplished.

“All the healing I know how to do is wrapping a bandage and treating frostbite and hypothermia,” Sokka said. “Any idiot can learn that.” Most idiots had to, in fact, because if you didn’t, and you made another mistake or got stuck in a bad situation, you died.

“This isn’t hypothermia,” Katara said sadly, looking back at Aang. Then she straightened. “You think Zuko might know something about burn treatment?”

He thought for a second. “Given, you know, _the obvious_ , he’s received burn treatment before. If he can still see out that eye even a little the Fire Nation’s got to have some serious healers around. Plus if the Fire Nation loves to throw fireballs as much in training as they do on the battlefield, then there are probably lots of accidents. Lots of burns that people might not even see a healer for. Maybe -“

That was when the implications of Katara’s question hit him. Sokka nearly fell over. In spite of the fact he was sitting down already. “ _You want to ask Zuko about treating Aang?_ ”

Katara narrowed her eyes and stuck out her chin. So that was a yes. She’d decided, and she was going to be stubborn about it. “If he knows something we don’t, and it can help Aang, we should try,” she said.

“It’s Zuko!” Sokka said, trying not to shout. He settled for waving his hands in the air as emphatically as possible. “You know the guy, chased us in general and Aang in particular from the South Pole to the North Pole! Literally one end of the world to the other!”

“He helped me get Aang out,” Katara said. “You weren’t there, Sokka. Azula threw him in that dungeon like he was trash. She tried to _kill_ him.”

“So he’s the enemy of our enemy,” Sokka said bluntly. “That doesn’t make him our friend. For all we know the two of them are just fighting over the throne.”

“He came with us. Azula saw it. You really think he can just go back to the Fire Nation?”

That was a good point. “Okay, but that doesn’t mean we should just let him near Aang while he’s vulnerable. If there’s anything that could persuade the Fire Nation to let him back in, I bet capturing the Avatar would do it.”

“I’m not planning to leave him alone with Aang,” Katara said. “I can handle him in a fight. We can ask Toph to hang around too, to make sure he’s not lying about anything. I just think he deserves a chance. And he might know something.”

She looked back at Aang, face down and deathly still on the bedroll, and Sokka saw her face soften. It took him a second to place the expression. But he did. Sometimes, not very often, usually when she thought he wasn’t watching, Katara made that face when they talked about their mother.

So he said, “It’s your call. You’re the healer. Just keep Toph close, okay? And sleep first. I can keep an eye on Aang for a little while. I’ll wake you up if anything changes.”

Katara took a few more bites of rice and drank her tea. “Thanks, Sokka,” she said. “You can have the last sea prune.”

Before he could argue, she started busying herself with her own bedroll, and then she lay down with her eyes closed so that he _couldn’t_ argue. Well, if she insisted, he’d eat it happily. Sea prunes were hard to come by in the Earth Kingdom. Sokka settled in to wait.

Looked like he might not be making plans with his dad for a while longer.

—

There came a point where Zuko had to admit that he couldn’t brush the bison any more than he already had. Which meant that he had to make some sort of decision.

He was exhausted. Starving. When did he last eat or sleep? Yesterday? Yesterday morning? Everything felt fuzzy. His head hurt. He still wasn’t convinced that this wasn’t some sort of horrible nightmare.

Returning to the Water Tribe camp was not an appealing prospect. All those people. Whatever he’d done for the Avatar, at best they’d keep close watch on him. At worst - he’d learned that lesson. He was surprised they’d let him out of their sight. What he _should_ do was take the chance to run. He needed to find out what happened to his uncle. Azula wouldn’t kill Uncle, surely?

She’d tried to kill _him_. But that was different.

Zuko wasn’t much better at living off the land now than he had been a few weeks ago, but at least he knew a bit more about what to expect from travelling through the Earth Kingdom. He hadn’t been paying attention to the topography on the flight here, concentrating on controlling the flame in his hand and the Avatar’s still form. _Too_ still. From Zuko’s experience with the Avatar, he was never still. And the smell…

That wasn’t the point. He shook his head and tried to focus on the problem. Uncle Iroh would approve. Maybe. The problem was, he was alone in unknown territory, except for the camp full of enemies behind him, and even the clothes on his back wouldn’t last long in this sort of salt scrub. His shoes wouldn’t last much longer. He ground his teeth. It wouldn’t be as bad as the North Pole, even if his firebending wasn’t working properly anymore. He’d make it.

Decision made, Zuko looked to the sky to try and get his bearings. If he could just find a river, there’d be a settlement along it somewhere -

But the bison, which he could have sworn had been asleep, made a disapproving groaning noise.

“I can’t _stay_ ,” Zuko said.

The bison made another deep-throated noise. Then it shuffled forward, licked him again, and forced its broad nose under Zuko’s hands.

“I have to find my uncle.”

This was ridiculous. It was a sky bison. Why was he explaining himself to a sky bison?

Another shove. Now that Zuko was standing next to it, it was hard to ignore just how _big_ the bison was. And ungainly. Zuko had mostly seen it in the air, swooping around like a breeze. Now, it was clearly angling for attention. Comfort? He didn’t know. It was bonded to the Avatar somehow, and the Avatar was seriously injured. It had to be upset.

So Zuko patted it. It had been - helpful? Kind? It had made a show of affection when Toph checked up on him. Was the bison that smart? Either way, a pat wouldn’t hurt before he left. He didn’t have any other way to show his appreciation.

But that was when the bison struck, taking advantage of Zuko’s distraction and weakness. The bison reared, and before his exhaustion-dulled reflexes could catch up, knocked him over, pinning him to the ground in one far from ungainly movement. And no matter how Zuko cursed and twisted, he couldn’t shift the bison an inch.

He thought he heard it snoring.

_This_ was ridiculous. He needed to go find his Uncle, save him if he had to, and he couldn’t. Because the Avatar’s bison had decided to take a nap on him.

He could try to firebend again. Scare it off him. A fireball across its broad face, singing its fur. The thought brought back the cold ash feeling in his stomach. He didn’t think he could do that after all.

But what did that leave? Staying here?

He was too tired to think of another way out. Eventually he just fell asleep instead, still pinned under the bison.

—

There was a lot going on in the Water Tribe camp, and Toph wasn’t feeling much use for any of it. She was the greatest earthbender in the world, and she couldn’t do _anything_. All the way there, she’d been listening and feeling as hard as she could. Heartbeats weren’t supposed to feel like Aang’s did right now.

She wanted to go break some rocks until she felt better. But she didn’t want to go too far away just in case - in case Aang woke up, that was what. He wasn’t going to die over some stupid _lightning_. Katara would fix it. Katara was good at fixing things like that.

Sokka had asked her to check on that Zuko guy, who wasn’t half as scary as they’d all said he was. Not even a quarter as scary. He felt like he was about a minute away from falling over, from all those suppressed shakes. Not stealing him, not hurting him, just brushing. Appa had _that_ covered. Not something Toph thought she had to be all that worried about.

Not next to - she _really_ wanted to go break a bunch of rocks. Or something Fire Nation-y. Fire Nation rocks.

Sometimes waiting for the right moment to act sucked. _Hard._

The camp bustled on around her. She liked camps, even if this one was by a beach. She just had to stay away from the water and on good solid earth. In the meantime…

She wanted metal. She couldn’t go break rocks, but she could sit here and practice while she waited for Aang and Katara to wake up. Toph stomped her foot to get a clearer idea of what was around her. The Water Tribes didn’t use much metal, it felt like. Wood and bone, mostly. A lot of the men had _totally awesome_ necklaces made of what felt like teeth.

Over there, near the fire, she could feel the particular resonance of metal. A helmet, she thought. Not Water Tribe, they used bone for that too, when they did wear helmets. From the general shape and pointiness, she thought it was probably Fire Nation. Well, someone could live without their trophy. Toph had practicing to do.

She turned the helmet over in her hands, tapping it so she could get a good idea of what was in it. Two, no, three metals. The main helmet was made out of the one metal, but there were bits that were covered in a thin layer of another metal - was that gold? Was the helmet gilded in places? She’d never tried earthbending anything with a lot of gold on it before. Because gold was metal and earthbenders couldn’t bend metal. Until her.

There was also a little piece on the front that had been sort of stuck to the main helmet with metal like it was glue. She could feel the difference. And now that she knew what she was looking for…

Toph focused and twisted. The glue metal gave way. She twisted again, and she’d separated the glue metal from each piece of the helmet. Right. Next was the thin layer. If it was gold, it was gold, _someone_ would care, but right now she wanted to see if she could get that thin sheet off in one piece. Anyone could throw a boulder. Precision work like this was another matter.

_Move_ , she thought, pressing her will into the tiniest movement of her fingers. _Peel away._

It didn’t want to, but Toph knew how to make stubborn rocks do what she wanted. She was more stubborn than the helmet. _Move_ , she willed again, and the softer metal slipped away from its panels on the helmet.

It crumpled when she grabbed it. She hadn’t done it perfectly; there was a tear in the thin foil. Not good enough, then. But maybe she could bend it whole again?

She had just set down the helmet to try working with the foil when she felt the Earth King and his bear approaching. He hadn’t changed out of his fancy clothes, from the sounds of it. The rustling of his layers and layers of expensive silks and the clicking of his jade beads were enough to deafen a poor, blind earthbender.

The Earth King didn’t get the point of her scowl, though, and sat down beside her. He didn’t smell like his fancy perfumes any more, though. Just smoke and sweat and bear. “Is the Avatar any better?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Toph said, “But Katara’s asleep, and she wouldn’t be asleep if Aang was -“ Her voice locked up on her. “You better not bother them.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” the Earth King said. Not a lie. He turned his head, looking at the metal in Toph’s hands more than her, if she judged his eyeline right. “You know, that’s amazing. Your metalbending, that is.”

“I’m the greatest earthbender in the world,” Toph said, as casually as she could. She tried to ignore the wobbly feeling in her own chest. The greatest earthbender in the world, but she hadn’t been able to help Aang or Katara. They’d even been in a _cave_. There was nowhere she could have helped them better.

The Earth King sighed. “Maybe with that sort of gift…”

Wait - was he? He was. He totally was. Sure, fine, whatever, recognise her earthbending. She was the greatest. But _she’d_ worked to make her earthbending great. There was a lot of sweat and mud involved. She wasn't fragile. She wasn't going to collapse into a dainty little swoon because she had to put in some effort. “Hey, it’s not just talent. You can - I don’t know, be the greatest bear-handler in the world? If you work at it.”

The Earth King sighed again. Toph was getting annoyed, here. “It might be a bit late for me. I’m afraid I’ve been useless all my life.”

“You want me to feel sorry for you?” Toph snapped, patience out. “I know how it is. My parents hardly let me outside the house either. You’re a grown-up. You’re supposed to be in charge. If you don’t want to be useless, go find something to do. Something useful. Stop whining and go _do something about it_.”

The Earth King flinched. But then he straightened back up. “Yes, of course. You’re right. I suppose the first trick is knowing what’s useful…that’s something to think about…”

He stood. Rustle, rustle. If he was going to do something useful, he’d need to change clothes, Toph thought. Couldn’t do much while wearing silks like that. She knew from experience. She’d bet Long Feng had wrapped the Earth King up in the fanciest robes possible almost as soon as he could walk, just so he never did anything that risked getting them dirty.

“I will think about what you’ve said,” the Earth King told her. “In the meantime, the Avatar has my best wishes for a speedy recovery. As do the people helping him on his way.”

Toph let him go. And waited. Aang’s heart was still beating. Katara was still asleep. No sign of Appa or Zuko, but nothing that sounded like a fight, either. Nothing was going to sneak up and bother them while she was here. Nothing was going to bother anyone in the camp, if she had anything to say about it, and she did.

And if the Fire Nation did manage to find them…she’d see what use her metalbending was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katara calls Yugoda 'Master' because I want *someone* to acknowledge mastery of healing waterbending, damn it.
> 
> Thanks for reading, commenting, bookmarking, and/or kudos!


	3. Something Tentative

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Gaang (plus one, minus Aang) start to see part of a way forward.

By the time Katara woke up, the sun was high in the sky and beating down hard on the tent. Summer in the Earth Kingdom was _hot._ She’d slept the whole morning. She felt just as awful now as she did when she fell asleep in the first place.

Less hungry and tired, though.

“Oh, you’re up,” Sokka said.

“Any change?” she asked.

“Not as far as I can tell. He’s still breathing. Doesn’t look like infection’s setting in either. I turned him as best I could to give him some juice, but it might work better if you do some juicebending. Or some soupbending.”

He tossed her two waterskins. One for drinking. One for healing. Her brother knew how to think things through. Katara took a deep drink from one before unstopping the other as well. Time to try to heal a bit more of Aang’s burn.

If anything, it looked worse this morning. Like Sokka said, no signs of infection, but now that there was sunlight…she’d never healed anything this bad before. Aang wasn’t going to just wake up and be better.

“I need to talk to dad,” Sokka said, as she stretched her shoulders and wrists, preparing to work. “We need to work out what to do next.”

“The less we move Aang, the better,” Katara said. “He’s still weak.”

“Staying here won’t do him much good if we get caught by the Fire Nation, but I promise, we’ll move him as little as possible.” He hesitated. “Are you going to speak to dad too?”

“When I get the time,” Katara promised, heart heavy.

“He wants to talk to you.”

“I want to talk to him, too.” Three years. He’d been gone _three years_. There was so much to tell him. When she got the time. “Aang comes first.”

Sokka hauled himself to his feet. “I’ll send Toph in,” he said.

Katara didn’t answer. She had to focus on healing.

By the time she’d tired herself back out, she liked to think that the horrible wound on Aang’s back was a little less - open. Raw-looking. Across from her, Toph slumped. “His heart sounds a little better,” she confirmed.

“That’s good to know,” Katara replied. She checked Aang’s pulse for herself, so she knew what the difference was. It didn’t feel much different to her. Still too faint. “Can you keep watch?”

“My toes are at the ready,” Toph said. Katara wished she could summon up that much bravado. Even if it was hard to miss how hard Toph was kneading a lump of metal with her newly-discovered bending.

Katara took the time to clean herself up and eat a bit more. Sokka was right, she had to look after herself better. She didn’t have to cook, either, which was nice.

Even if she thought Zuko might _really_ work with them, she didn’t want to have this conversation any more wavery and wretched than she already felt. When she asked around, though, nobody could recall seeing him. It was Bato, all healed up except for some still-raw scarring, who pointed Katara to the brush where he’d last been spotted.

Zuko wouldn’t have run, would he? But the more she thought about it, the more sensible it seemed to her. They wouldn’t hurt him, of course, but he might not know that. Or trust them.

She wasn’t as good at tracking as Sokka, especially not in thick Earth Kingdom brush, but she found the faint, narrow trail winding between the thick dusty green bushes. Anyone could get lost here, except maybe Toph. She strained her own ears.

After a good twenty minutes of searching, she at last heard Appa’s deep, rumbling breathing. She’d missed him more than she could have thought possible. Somewhere along the way, that sound started to mean _comfort_ almost as much as Gran-Gran’s hugs. When she saw the flash of white through the brush, she picked up the pace. Appa made a happy noise, but didn’t move.

The reason why became apparent as Katara made her way to the clearing.

Appa had Zuko pinned solidly beneath his upper body. The firebender even looked like he might be asleep. _Appa_ had kidnapped _Zuko_.

A stick cracked beneath her foot. Zuko’s eyes snapped open. Katara had a water whip out and ready before she realised that he could barely move. Not a threat. She lowered her water whip. “Sorry,” she said. “Are you all right?”

“Does it look like I’m all right?”

Katara looked at him. Really looked at him. She didn’t know what _did_ look healthy for him. He was pale anyway, with dark shadows under his eyes from too little sleep and chapped lips from not enough to drink. His clothes were dirty and covered in a layer of bison fur, but they were still nice clothes. “Actually, it’s hard for me to say,” she admitted. “I don’t think anyone else here is feeling very well.”

He shoved at Appa. The bison relented and moved to the side, going back to munching on more of those thick green bushes. Zuko scrambled upright, almost losing his balance as he came to his feet.

“I need to go save my uncle,” he said, at the same time Katara said, “I wanted to ask if you could help me with Aang.”

He stared at her for a long moment. The only noise was Appa’s crunching chewing and a few birds chirping unseen in the trees above them. She was struck by the realisation that he wasn’t all that old. Only a little older than Sokka, she thought. The armour and the mostly-shaved head had made him look older.

He wasn’t all that scary like this. He’d stopped being all that scary sometime in that cave. He’d said the Fire Nation had taken his mother from him too.

At last, Zuko said, “You want _my_ help. With the Avatar.”

“Yes,” Katara said.

Zuko dropped his gaze. He almost looked ashamed. “I don’t know what you think I can do,” he said. “Your waterbending heals, doesn’t it?”

“I’ve never even seen a burn that bad before,” Katara said. “Even if you don’t know anything about treating burns, at least you know what to expect from the healing process.” And Katara didn't. She knew _nothing_.

She saw the twitch in his arm as he stopped himself from raising a hand to his own scar. How much had that hurt him? How had he even got it? But no verbal response. No move towards her. It might have been too much to expect that he’d just agree to help Aang, after all that time chasing him.

But there was one thing that might work. “We can help you save your uncle,” she said.

Zuko’s head jerked up. “You would?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” she asked. “He’s helped us before.” She didn’t know much about the old man, but he’d been serious about defending the Moon Spirit, and gentle with the spirit’s burned body. Plus he clearly loved his nephew. He actually almost reminded Katara of her own grandpa, who died of old age when she was little. “Does that sound fair to you? You help Aang, we help your uncle.”

Slowly, hesitantly, Zuko nodded.

—

His dad had _maps_. Lots and lots of lovely maps. Maps of the Earth Kingdom’s southern coast, maps of the Earth Kingdom’s western coast, star maps of the northern hemisphere, sea charts marked with Fire Nation fleet movements. Right now, Sokka was most interested in that last one.

“If Ba Sing Se has fallen, the Fire Navy will be coming in to support their forces while they occupy the city,” Hakoda said. “They’ll need to build up their supply lines, and that’s going to be by sea. We should start seeing their ships coming through these routes soon.”

Sokka followed the line his father’s finger traced on the map. “That’s getting a bit too close,” he said.

“The good news is that it’ll be smaller ships. The draft on the big ones are too much. So fewer men, whenever they land.”

“Enough for us to deal with? Katara says that Aang shouldn’t be moved.” He had to be their priority. They couldn’t end the war without the Avatar.

“I’m not sure,” Hakoda said. “It was a hard winter, as hard as they get in the Earth Kingdom. The men are tired. It won’t do any good if we throw ourselves into a suicidal attack.”

Right, the other side. The Avatar couldn’t survive without them. Not right now. He remembered what it was like at the North Pole. Endless ships. Everywhere. Too many to fight head-on. This would be the same again, if they fought, so what they had to do instead was escape. “So we definitely need to move.”

Katara wouldn’t like it. _He_ didn’t like it.

They spent the next hour going back and forth over the routes in and out. There were so many, but at the same time, so few. Twice, someone came in to report what they’d seen scouting up the coast. Fire Nation, mostly. It had only been a _day_. Azula moved fast. Which was sensible, he had to admit.

This was what they were up against. Sokka hadn’t realised how used to fighting he’d got. He’d been hanging out with _the Avatar_. And the greatest earthbender in the world, and a master waterbender. Of course they fought.

He was the plan guy. He couldn’t afford to get stuck in a box. If they couldn’t fight, then they had to leave. If they couldn’t sail out…

Wait.

Why couldn’t they sail out? It was just because they were Water Tribe, right?

“You said there weren’t many men aboard the smaller Fire Nation ships,” he said. “Could we steal one?”

The possibilities raced through his mind. A ship with Fire Nation cargo could tide them over for a long time. It might be a good hiding place too, out at sea. Blend in with the rest, make for the open ocean. That could work. That could work _well_. If they could find the right ship, if it was safe to move Aang (but they wouldn’t have to move him again) -

His father raised an eyebrow. “You know how they work?” he asked.

“I’ve worked with some Fire Nation machinery before, but not enough to steer a ship, I don’t think,” Sokka said. “But you know who might know more than I do?”

“The mixed boy you brought with you?”

“Mixed?” Sokka frowned. There was only one person his dad could be referring to. Couldn’t blame him for the assumption, either, wasn’t like there were all _that_ many Fire Nation citizens lining up to help the Avatar, much less so obviously burn-scarred and wearing Earth Kingdom clothes. “Oh - I didn’t mention that, did I? He’s not mixed. He’s not even some random Fire Nation citizen. That’s _Prince Zuko_.”

His father’s other eyebrow rose to meet the first. “The Fire Lord’s son?”

“The very same. And with all the time he spent chasing us around on a Fire Nation ship, I bet he knows enough to help us figure out the rest.”

Hakoda half-sighed, half-whistled, in what sounded like half disbelief and half dismay. _Dis_ , for sure. “You trust him?”

“No,” Sokka said. “Katara brought him along. No idea why. She just said he helped.” Against Azula. Even with a night to reflect on it, he had to admit, that wasn’t exactly a small thing.

“I’ll set a guard.”

“I already got Toph to keep track of him. And Katara’s going to speak to him again too. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t take both in a fight. We’re not planning to leave him alone with Aang.” Sokka definitely didn’t trust him enough for that. Fine, whatever, Zuko had only showed up like once since the North Pole. Sokka didn’t want to tempt him to resume Avatar-chasing on a more regular basis. “The important thing is, he’s here, and he knows stuff.”

What other stuff might he know? There was so much Sokka could learn. The invasion - oh yes, Sokka could definitely work with more information here. The next step would be getting Zuko to actually _tell_ them what they needed to know.

So many things to keep track of. So many plans. But that was okay. He was the plan guy.

—

The Avatar’s wound looked better than any burn wound of that size and depth than Zuko had ever seen before. Which wasn’t many. Not on a living person. He swallowed hard. At least it didn’t smell like burning flesh any more. Or even burn salve. Whatever the Water Tribe used for burns, it wasn’t what the Fire Nation used.

Zuko swallowed hard. While it looked _better_ , better wasn’t _good_. Still worse than Uncle’s wound, when Azula shot him. “I can’t tell you anything but that he’s going to be in pain,” he said. “A lot of pain. Have you been using poppy?”

“A bit, when I’ve had some,” Katara said. “We didn’t have it at the South Pole. I know it’s strong.”

He did his best not to bring his hand to his scar again. It was difficult, when he was looking at the Avatar’s wound and trying to remember what the healers had said around him in those first few horrible weeks after his banishment. He usually tried _not_ to think about that time. “It’s addictive,” he said. “When I was - recovering, the healers tried to give it to me as little as they could. They had to balance the risk with, with the pain.”

“Not a lie,” the earthbender girl, Toph, said unexpectedly.

The waterbender’s mouth tightened into a grim line, just briefly. “Then I’ll be careful with it,” she said. “Thanks, Zuko. That _was_ helpful.”

He couldn’t answer. Was this betraying the Fire Nation, too? It was helping the Avatar, it had to be.

“Do you know how long it might take Aang to recover?” Katara asked.

“I could get up and walk around for short periods of time after about a week. I was well enough to fight again after about two weeks. Not well, but I could. The wound was tender for a lot longer.” The damage to his sight and hearing had been the issues of most concern. Admitting and explaining how both those senses were weaker on his scarred side now would not be smart. Not that he stood a chance, without his firebending or his swords. He moved on to something that might be more relevant. “Uncle took weeks to recover properly from when Azula shot him too.”

Sure enough, Katara grilled him a bit further on what happened with Uncle’s wound. It made sense - Azula had shot both Uncle and the Avatar with lightning, in the torso. Unfortunately, Uncle Iroh had exaggerated his symptoms on some days and hidden the true extent of his injury on others. Zuko had done his best to help treat the injury, without actually knowing or understanding anything about it.

He hoped his uncle was still okay.

“No lies,” Toph said again, when he’d finished. “He’s on the level, Katara.”

Zuko glared at her, remembering too late that Toph was blind. It was a wasted expression.

“I trust him on this much,” Katara said without looking up. “That’s going to have to be enough for now.”

He tried not to show any sign of his nervousness. “What happens to me now, then?” he asked. Obviously they couldn’t go rescue Uncle right this minute. They didn’t even know where Azula might have taken him. “Am I a prisoner?”

“No!” said Katara, as if the question surprised her. But - if they didn’t trust him - what _was_ he supposed to be here? But she was already going on. “I mean, it’s probably not a good idea for you to wander off or anything, I don’t know what Sokka’s told Dad about you yet. But you _helped_ us. You’re still helping us. We’re not going to tie you up or whatever for that. You’ve earned that much.”

“Appa’s voting in favour of you too, if he was slobbering on you earlier,” Toph added. “Why is that? He hates fire.”

Should he tell them? On the one hand, it was yet more treason. He’d had to, it hadn’t felt… _right_ …to leave the bison chained underground, just like Uncle said, but…on the other hand, if it was something that motivated them to help him, too… “I found him. In Ba Sing Se. I let him out of the dungeon the Dai Li were keeping him in.”

The two girls looked at each other. Or Katara looked at Toph, and Toph turned her head towards Katara. “You’ve been chasing us all this time,” Katara said, “and you just _let Appa go_?”

Zuko shrugged.

“How did you even find him?” Toph demanded. “We were looking for weeks!”

“I found the flyer,” Zuko said. “I figured that if you were looking for the bison in Ba Sing Se, you had some idea that he was there, and if he couldn’t get to you, someone must have been keeping him -“

“And the only people in Ba Sing Se who could do that are the Dai Li,” Katara finished.

“Wow. I feel stupid. So you roughed up some Dai Li?” When Zuko nodded, Toph threw herself back on the floor with a frustrated groan. “We should have done that to start with!”

“Maybe,” Katara said thoughtfully. ‘Thanks, Zuko. Appa means a lot to all of us, especially Aang. He’ll thank you too when he wakes up.”

“I don’t want the Avatar’s thanks,” Zuko snarled. “I need your help to rescue my uncle. That’s it. That’s all.”

The earthbender snapped back upright at the first angry word, and though Katara threw her arm across her friend’s path, her other hand hovered close to her waterskin. “That’s the deal we made,” Katara said, in a voice almost like she was calming a wounded cat-owl. “We’ll hold up our end.”

Zuko wanted to bury his head in his hands. He’d screwed this all up. He’d betrayed his sister, his father, and his country for his uncle. He didn’t even understand why he’d had to choose at all.

The one thing he did understand was that there was a deal. As soon as he stopped helping the Avatar, he would be useless.

Zuko could guess what might happen to him if he was useless. And then there'd be no saving his uncle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and commenting!


End file.
